We are requesting funds to support the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association to be held May 29th to June 1st at the Marriott Marina del Rey, Marina del Rey, California. In recent years, this meeting has grown to become one of the premier meetings for biogerontological research. The theme of the meeting is Aging and Geroscience: New Approaches to Old Problems. Dr. James Nelson, President of AGE together with the AGE Program Committee (Drs. Buffenstein, Brown-Borg, Thompson and Ingram), Session Chairs and the AGE Executive Board organize the scientific program. The overall objective is to convene scientists and trainees from multiple disciplines in a forum for presentation and critical debate of the latest discoveries in aging research and to stimulate forward thinking and collaboration among participants. Funds are requested to help cover travel expenses of 1) invited speakers and 2) meritorious junior scientists (graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty) who can benefit from exposure to the leaders of the field, present their research findings and have the opportunity to contribute and get feedback from experts in the field. The specific goals of this meeting are a) to assemble a broad-based forum of basic and clinical scientists to present findings that utilize novel methods, uncover new mechanisms and have potential for development of therapeutics that may enhance quality and length of healthy life; b) to highlight important research areas not recently covered at meetings; c) to encourage open discussion and debate; and d) to emphasize integrative and translational research opportunities. The invited speakers include renowned scientists in aging and related disciplines selected for their science and ability to stimulate debate. A key goal is the inclusion of rising stars and scientists who are not regular speakers on the aging conference circuit to promote broader participation and to bring to the field fresh ideas, novel technologies and new approaches. Topics include 1) new findings questioning the coupling of healthspan and lifespan, 2) advances in aging- gene mapping strategies, 3) new metrics of frailty in animals, 4) provocative findings on sex differences in the response to anti-aging interventions, and 5) new discoveries on the neuroendocrine/cell non-autonomous modulation of aging. The effectiveness of this meeting in achieving its stated goals, particularly in broadening the range of speakers and topics, will be evaluated by participant survey and used to guide future meetings.